In last night's game Brendan Donnelly was removed due to injury and unsurprisingly he is headed to the DL.
Not wanting to chance further injury, the Marlins are placing veteran reliever Brendan Donnelly on the 15-day disabled list.
The 38-year-old right-hander strained his right calf while fielding a bunt in Florida's 4-3 loss to the Braves at Turner Field on Saturday night.
First off the calf is a very complex muscle and if he has indeed badly strained it, it might take some time to recover. But being a complex muscle it may be that he recovers fairly quickly if it isn't serious. Another way to say that is once a complex muscle tightens up, it doesn't necessarily mean there is an injury per se. Though there is no way proceed at the given moment. Just that you need a day or two to get it to relax. But the Marlins don't have the luxury of waiting around to see if it is really a medical problem or just a use problem. The Marlins are already short handed as it is and there is noway they are going with 11 position players and 11 pitchers. So Donnelly to the DL.
Joe Frisaro speculates the Marlins might bring turn Cristhian Martinez around and bring him back up.
A likely choice is Double-A Jacksonville right-hander Cristhian Martinez, who was optioned on Aug. 20. Martinez is eligible to return because it is a DL situation. Normally, a player must wait 10 days after being optioned to be recalled.
Bringing up a reliever to replace Donnelly sounds about right, since once Donnelly is on the DL it is fifteen days before he can return. Fredi, no matter how much he doesn't like it, is used to managing a short bench. No need to add a short pen into the equation.
Martinez, since being sent down, hasn't thrown a pitch in a live game so he seems like the most likely candidate to be recalled. However, they could rush the Hopper back. We will know later today.